Legacy
by Finnick Mellark
Summary: 25 Years Ago, the Mockingjay's Rebellion failed. President Snow was killed; as well as Coin, the people of the Capitol appointed President Snow's daughter as President, and she reinstated the Games. Now, it's the 100th Hunger Games, and the Quarter Quell could mean death for Finnick Mellark, and his friends Cleo Hawthorne, Neptune Odair, Sophia Mason, and Nike Paylor.
1. Prologue

My family sits in the living room of our home in the Victors Village of District 12. The National Anthem of Panem plays and the Capitol seal appears on the television, and is quickly replaced by an image of President Jacqueline Snow.

"Good Evening people of Panem, As you may or may not already know, this year marks the 100th Annual Hunger Games, marking the 4th Quarter Quell, and the Centennial of the Games. So, as it was written in the Hunger Games Charter 100 years ago, there will be two Quell Cards chosen this year."

A little boy in a mint green suit, with similar colored hair holds up an ornately decorated wooden box. President Snow opens the box, and pulls out two cards.

"On the 100th Anniversary of the Hunger Games, to remind the districts that the entire country grows weaker in Revolution, all tributes will be injected with a slow-acting poison that will weaken them to the point of death, unless they can find one of the antidote placed around the arena." the President reads.

"Also, to remind the districts of the loved ones lost in the rebellion, tributes will be selected from the children of previous Victors."

It takes me a few seconds to understand the gravity of the President's words.

My sister Rose pulls me into a hug.

"Katniss, Finnick is the only living son of a Victor in District 12, Real or Not Real?"

Definitely real dad, definitely real. I'm going to be reaped, there's no way around it.


	2. Chapter 1

I open my eyes and take in my surroundings. Cleo is quietly snoring next to me; I lie on my back under the old willow in the Meadow of District 12. The scenery reminds me of the lullaby my mother used to sing to my sisters and I.

"Here it's safe, here it's warm, Here the daisies guard you from harm,Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true,Here is the place where I love you."

When I sing the lyrics, all the Mockingjays in the Willow fall silent, just as they do for my mother and her father before her. My singing also causes Cleo to rise.

"Finnick, Shut up." Cleo says.

"Sorry, Cleo."

"Where are we?"

"The Meadow." I say. "We fell asleep under the willow."

"Oh," Cleo says with a smile, she sits up and rubs the sleep from her eyes. "I didn't sleep at all last night, I was up all night worrying."

"I know Cleo, I was too."

"The Odds are not in our favor."

"Are they ever?" I respond

"Four of us, Finnick."

"You, Autumn, Summer, and me. Your odds are far better than mine."

"I'm sorry, Fin. Let's talk about something else."

"What'd you shoot this morning?"

"A turkey, a duck and a rabbit."

"What was in the traps this morning?"

"There was a squirrel and two rabbits, and I shot a turkey." I answer.

"That's pretty good." I say.

"Yeah, Well I'd better go get ready for the reaping." Cleo says standing.

"Yeah, I'm going to go to the bakery." I say.

"See you there Finnick." Cleo says jogging down the hill.

"Hawthorne!" I shout after her.

Cleo stops and turns around. "Wear something pretty." I say with a smile.

"Try to look handsome, Mellark!" Cleo retorts.

"What do you mean try?!"

I smile and take off down the other side of the hill toward my family's bakery, game bag over shoulder.

I arrive at our Mellark family bakery. I walk inside to find my mother and older sister, Rose behind the counter helping two peacekeepers.

I wave before going into the kitchen to help to help my father and younger sister Johanna. "Finnick!" Johanna says

"Hanna!" I lift her up and give her a hug.

Johanna (or Hanna for short) is five years old, and she -like my mother, grandfather and I- is an amazing singer, so she's always singing or humming something. She has blonde hair like our father and I, but grey eyes like our mother.

"Hi Finnick, I need you to ice those cupcakes right there." my father says.

"What are they for?" I ask.

"They're for Celia Richards' 10th birthday." my father answers.

I decide to put some flowers and butterflies on them.

When I finish frosting the cupcakes, it is time to close up.

We all walk home and get ready for the reaping. My outfit isn't anything exciting, just a nice grey button up shirt, khaki pants and some dress shoes. I walk out into the living room to find my family sitting on the couch.

"Sit down Finnick," My mother says.

"We have something we want to give you, a token for the Games."

I sit down and my father reaches into his pocket. He produces a wristwatch.

I examine the watch, it looks like my mother's mockingjay pin and when I press a button on the side it opens and, I find pictures of my family as well as pictures of my friends, and the old lullaby my mother sang to us when we were young plays.

"Thanks Dad." I say.

A nervous pit forms in my stomach, I feel like I'm going to throw up or cry, or both. As if on cue, Primrose comes into the living room with a couple pills.

"Mom, Dad, Can I talk to Finnick for a minute?"

My mother and father step out of the living room. Rose sits down across from me.

Rose is short from Primrose, named after my mother's sister, who died during the Rebellion. She has brown hair like our mother, and grey eyes like our dad and I. She got reaped for the 95th Hunger Games, and had to watch her boyfriend die.

Rose hands me the pills. "Take these."

"You got lucky the last three years, but this is a Quell year, they want it to be exciting."

"I know."

"But you're strong, you know how to hunt."

"Animals, Rose. Not people."

"The guilt fades quickly. In the games you either kill or get killed."

I nod.

"It's in your blood. I believe in you little brother."

"Thanks Rose."

"Come on Fin and Rose. Let's go." Hanna says.

We all walk to the District Square, where everyone in the district is waiting for the reaping to begin. We meet Cleo's family.

"Good Morning Mellarks." Cleo's father says.

"Good Morning Gale, Good Morning Cecelia." My parents say.

"Where's Cleo?" I ask.

"She's right up there." Cleo's mom says. Cleo's mom is the Victor of the Hunger Games from Cleo's family, She was the Victor of the 73rd Hunger Games. She lived in District 2, where she met Cleo's father, Gale.

Cleo looks absolutely amazing in her reaping outfit. Her blue dress really brings out the blue in her grey eyes and her dirty blonde colored hair is held up by a Mockingjay hair clip. The only makeup she wears is black eyeliner.

"Whoa, Cleo you look awesome!" I say.

"You don't look too bad yourself, Finnick." Cleo says. She says with a smile, the scar shaped like half of a heart on her cheek twitches.

Next to Cleo stands the twin sisters, Summer and Autumn, their mom won the 84th Hunger Games when she was pregnant with the twins, everyone felt sorry for her, but once she got in the arena she was a killing machine.

We turn towards the stage to see Haymitch Abernathy the mentor for this year's tributes, walking up to the stage. Haymitch is an older guy in his early 60's, he's got salt and pepper hair and green eyes, his skin is weathered from age.

Next to step on the stage is our Capitol escort, Rainy Sunsets. A stupid name for a stupid personality, She wears a blue and yellow dress and her hair is dyed blue with streaks of yellow in it as well, Absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion.

The last person onstage is Mayor Collins. The Reaping begins with a speech from the Mayor. "It's a pleasure having you all here today at this year's Reaping. As you all may or may not know, this year is the 100th Hunger Games, and a Quell Year. So, I'd like to wish everyone luck, May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor."

"Well let's begin." Rainy says. She walks over to the bowl of female names and plucks one out.

Rainy steps up to the microphone.

"The female tribute from District 12 is Cleo Hawthorne."

No! Not Cleo. I grab her arm. I hear her parents crying behind me.

"Cleo, No, You can't!" I say.

"Finnick, I have to." She pulls away. A look of shock crosses her face.

She reaches the stage. Rainy asks for volunteers, Neither Summer or Autumn speaks up.

"Now for the male tribute." Rainy reaches into the male bowl and pulls the slip of the paper.

"Finnick Mellark."

This moment is worse than I expected, Cleo and I are both going into the arena; one or both of us could die. But, I should've seen it coming. I hear my mother crying behind me. Hanna runs up to me and gives me a hug.

"Finnick, don't die." she says through tears.

"I'll try Hanna." I reply, hugging her back

I walk up to the stage, holding back tears. Cleo and I shake hands as instructed. The wind picks up blowing Rainy's hair as she reads the Treaty of Treason and then Mockingjay's Surrender- the treaty they made my parents and the rest of the rebels sign 25 years ago when the Rebels failed in the second rebellion- I feel my fist tighten. The way she reads sounds like she's mocking me.

What happens next is so fast, I hear a sound I would know anywhere, the soft pluck of an arrow being released from a bow. Next I see the black arrow coming right at me. Then with a gust of wind the arrow changes direction and flies straight towards Cleo.

Instinct and adrenaline kicks in, I rock back on my heels and lurch forward. My hands catch Cleo's shoulders. I close my eyes and I hear a loud crash. When I open my eyes Cleo and I lay in the glass of the male reaping ball. The District Square is going absolutely crazy; families run from the square, Peacekeepers shout orders to no prevail.

Two hands clamp down on my shoulders picking me up carrying me to a hovercraft. The Peacekeeper throws me in and another comes in with Cleo in his hands. The hovercraft lifts off, leaving District 12, the only home I've ever known.


	3. Chapter 2

Cleo and I sit in the passenger's quarters of the hovercraft with Haymitch and has yet to shut up since we got on the hovercraft, yammering on and on about manners, and how excited she is for the games.

Cleo and I get bandaged around our forearms, by some Avoxes,and a television shows the reapings starts. I know a few of the tributes because their parents are friends with my parents:

Neptune Odair from District 4, his parents were both rebels, but Neptune has to take care of both of them, because his father is paralyzed from being attacked by a Muttation in the Rebellion, and his mother has a psychological disorder of some kind. Neptune has short brown hair like his mother, and deep sea-green eyes like his mother.

Sophie Mason from District 7, is the daughter of Johanna Mason, her mom was tortured with my father in the Capitol during the Rebellion. Sophia looks just like her mother, she's got long brown hair, green eyes, and the same constant sneer on her face.

Nike Paylor from District 8 is the daughter of the former Commander of the Rebel Army, and Hugo Paylor the Victor of the 68th Hunger Games. She has reddish-blonde hair like her father, and chocolate brown eyes like her mother.

The program ends with District 12. We watch as they call our names and then when the arrow is fired and I tackle Cleo. The camera pans around looking for the shooter, to no prevail. Haymitch turns off the television.

"Haymitch, do you have any advice for us?" Cleo asks.

"When we get to the Capitol, you'll be in the hands of your stylists." Haymitch says, "I want you to do whatever they say, No ifs ands or buts about it."

We both nod.

It's a quick trip to the Capitol in the hovercraft, we reach the Capitol in a few hours. the hovercraft lands and immediately people with cameras hound us. A woman leads us to the Remake Center. We get in the elevator and within seconds, we are on our floor and our prep teams descend on us.

They start by making me bathe in a gritty soap that has removed all dirt and about 3 layers of skin, leaving me a pinkish color. They also bathe me in about three different solutions and rip off any chest hair I have and shave my face. They give me a mint-green pill to swallow.

"To make some of your hair grow back." a woman explains

Now, a woman with icy blue skin and snow-white hair with sapphires woven into it trims and combs my hair.

"You are doing very well, usually tributes are very whiny." says Venus, a woman with bright red hair and tattoos of hearts and roses all over her skin.

She and Tigran, a man with bright orange hair with streaks of black in it and black stripes tattooed on his bright orange skin, begin to rub me down with a lotion that stings but then soothes the tingling from the soap, and brings my skin back to it's normal color.

They are puzzled by the half-heart scar on my left cheek, that won't be covered by their Capitol makeup.

"What is up with this scar?" Khione asks

"Long story." I smile knowing Cleo's prep team is probably asking the same question.

They finish and circle around my naked body examining their work. Under normal circumstances, I would be very self-conscious. But, these people are so ridiculous it doesn't even bother me.

"Wonderful, You almost look like a human being." gushes Khione. The prep team laughs and I force a smile.

"Thanks, We don't really have reason to look good in District 12. " I say

"Don't worry Finnick." Venus says, "When Hestia is done with you, You'll be the most handsome boy District 12 has ever had."

"Let's call her." Tigran says, with that my prep team darts out the door, leaving me all by myself. I expected my prep team to be easier to hate, like Rainy yammering on and on about how excited they are for the Games in the way that makes the people in the districts sick, But they're so dumb, so naive and they seem like they sincerely want to help me.

I wait for a while until Hestia walks in. Hestia is surprisingly normal, free of all Capitol 'enhancements', but beautiful nonetheless. She has long brown hair, and green eyes. She wears a simple black shirt, black pants and high-heeled shoes.

"Hello" I say with caution.

"Hey, just give me a second." Hestia begins pacing around me, taking in every inch of my body. "Okay, why don't you put on that robe and follow me."

I follow her orders and we go into a large room. Three of the walls are painted blue and have paintings on them. The fourth is made entirely out of clear glass so you can look out into the large city. There are two chairs waiting for us, with a glass table between them. I sit down and Hestia sits across from me.

"You're new aren't you?" I ask.

"Yes, it is my first year as a stylist." Hestia says.

"So, they gave you District 12." I say frowning.

"No, I asked for District 12, you see my parents, Cinna and Portia, were once stylists for District 12." Hestia says.

"You're Cinna and Portia's daughter?"

"Yes, I am." Hestia says.

"But, How?" I ask.

"I was born before my mother was killed."

"Oh, I'm sorry for asking."

"They were your parents stylists weren't they?"

"Yeah, they were."

"Would you like some lunch?"

Hestia pushes a button; the table opens and reveals our lunch.

The lunch is chicken in orange sauce, a garden salad, strawberries, fresh Capitol bread, and a glass of water.

We eat quietly.

"So, what's the outfit, this year?" I ask.

"Well, they've been doing the fire thing for the last 25 years," Hestia says. "So, we're going to put our own spin on it.

"Sounds good to me."

Within the hour, I'm dressed in a dark grey outfit, parts of the outfit glow red and orange like the embers at the bottom of a fire, fake smoke rolls off the outfit and rises to the ceiling. A grey masquerade mask that glows like the rest of the outfit is put on my face-the lights reflect off of my stormy grey eyes- a long cape goes down my back.

"You ready?" Hestia asks.

I follow Hestia out of the changing room and into the hallway where Cleo waits.

She is dressed in an outfit similar to my own. She also had streaks of gold in her chocolate brown hair.

"Cleo, you look hot, literally." I say with a grin

"Good one, Finnick." She shakes her head, and smiles.

We get in the elevator and go down to the bottom floor of the Remake Center where we begin for the chariot rides.

Our chariot looks as elegant as our costumes, smoke rolls around it, the chariot is going to be pulled by two black horses.

"Mrs. Hawthorne, our chariot awaits." I say motioning for her to get in.

"Thanks Finnick"

Her stylist, Armani, positions her mask on her face. He picks up a torch and lights the cape.

The cape erupts in flames, causing Cleo to gasp

"It's fake fire, dear." Armani says comfortingly.

Cleo looks dazzling. And I must, too.

"Remember, Heads high. Smile! They're going to love you!" he says.

District 10 leaves the chariot barn and Armani hurries off towards where Hestia, Rainy, and Haymitch are standing. Haymitch is saying something that I cannot hear. "What's he saying?" I ask Cleo.

"I think he wants us to hold hands." She replies.

I wrap my fingers around Cleo's and look back to Haymitch for confirmation. He nods and gives me thumbs up. That is the last thing I see before entering the city.


	4. Chapter 3

The crowds initial shock changes to chants of "District 12". Every look is turned our direction. I find myself frozen in fear, but then I catch a glimpse of us on the big television screen and I'm floored by how stunning we look. In the darkening evening light, the fire illuminates our faces, and we seem to be leaving a trail of flames behind us.

Remember, heads high. Smile! They're going to love you! I hear Armani's voice in my head. So, I hold up my head, put on my most winning smile, and wave with my free hand. Flowers rain down upon us. The crowds have even went to the trouble to find our names in the program and are calling our names. They don't care that we're the children of the biggest rebels in District 12.

Someone throws a flower, I catch it and smile in the general direction of the flower.

It's not until we reach the City Circle that I realize I must have completely stopped circulation to Cleo's fingers. That's how tightly I've been holding it. I loosen my grip on her hand, but she grabs my hand.

"Don't let go, I might fall out of this thing." she says. Our chariot comes to a halt, the music ends with a flourish and President Snow walks out on the balcony of her home.

The president is a tall thin woman in her late 40's. Her hair is a wintry pale blue and her skin is pale. She begins her speech. I watch the large screen behind her instead of listening to the speech. Normally, the cameras show each tribute as the President gives their speech but, I see that Cleo and I are getting a large amount of screen time. President Snow's speech ends and the chariot begins to move again, the Panem National Anthem playing loudly. We head around the City Circle one more time before we enter the Training Center.

Inside, the tributes hop out of their chariots and begin to talk with one another. Neptune Odair, Sophie Mason, and Nike Paylor walk over to Cleo and I and start talking.

"Finnick, I haven't seen you in forever." Sophie says, hugging me.

"Yeah, since 3rd grade!" I say.

"How are you Cleo?" Nike asks.

"I'm good, how are you?" Cleo says.

"Pretty good."

"Your costumes are amazing," says Sophie, "Your stylists did an amazing job."

"Yeah, well we better get going Cleo, before we get charred." I say, the group laughs and Cleo and I say goodbye.

We meet with Haymitch, Rainy, Hestia and Armani at the elevator. "What took you so long?" Haymitch asks.

"We got caught up talking to Sophie Mason, Neptune Odair, and Nike Paylor." Cleo says.

"Oh, good!" Haymitch says. "I want the five of you to form an alliance"

"You what?"

"I want the five of you to form an alliance, the Gamemakers are going to have it out for you. I've talked to their trainers and they're on board with it."

"Well, I hope so, with the exception of Nike, the trainers are their parents." Cleo says.

The elevator bell rings, and we step in. "Each district has their own floor, since you two are from District 12, you get the penthouse." Rainy explains.

The elevator zips us up to the top floor. The elevator doors open, the penthouse is gigantic, to our left is the den, the television showing the footage of the Tribute parade, and to the right is the dining room where the Avoxes have set out dinner for us.

"Finnick, your room is over here." Rainy says. I follow her towards my room. My room is twice the size of my room in the Victor's Village back home. On the walls are bright colored paintings, the far wall is a window, the image in the window can be changed by a remote control by the nightstand, I press a button and the image changes to an image of the woods of District 12, homesickness sets in and I change the image back to that of the Capitol. I clean all of the makeup off in the shower and put on a pair of black pants and a grey t-shirt.

Dinner consists of ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, and green beans. We talk about the parade while we eat. "The first day of training is tomorrow, so rest up." Haymitch says, after we finish dessert.

I walk into my quarters and lay down and flip on the T.V. I surf through the channels. I stop on a program about the rebuilding of District 12 after the second rebellion. I watch for a while, until I hear a knock on the door. "Finnick, can I come in?" Cleo asks

"Yeah," I answer turning the TV off.

"I can't sleep," she says, walking in dressed in a pair of black pinstriped pajama pants, and a pink t-shirt.

"Neither can I." I say

"Look at them down there," Cleo says shaking her head.

Down in the streets of the Capitol, people are having a celebration while they watch the footage of the opening ceremonies and the reapings.

"It's disgusting." I say

"The way they treat it like it's a big party to watch a reality show." Cleo chimes in.

"I just wish there was some way to show them that I'm not a pawn in their stupid games."

"I know, Finnick, but think about our families, If we pull anything they'll kill them."

My heart drops into my stomach.

"Yeah, You're right Cleo."

"Well, I'm gonna go to bed, See you in the morning."

Cleo leaves and I lie back down on my bed. I fall asleep instantly.

* * *

Should I continue? Are people even reading this? Let me know.


	5. Chapter 4

I wake up and go out into the dining room, a breakfast buffet is set out. I fill my plate with eggs, ham, potatoes, and a cinnamon roll. I fill up my mug with hot chocolate. My mother only lets us drink hot chocolate on special occasions, like Christmas.

I sit down, and Haymitch sits down next to me.

"Morning, Finnick." he says, putting his plate full of food down on the table.

"Good Morning Haymitch." I say.

We eat silently until Cleo comes and sits down.

"G'morning boys," Cleo says.

"Glad you're up, now we can talk about what I want you two to do today." Haymitch says. "I know that you're both good with a bow, but I want you to stay away from those."

"Why?" Cleo asks

"So we can save that for the individual training sessions, right?' I guess.

"Yes, and I want you to work on that alliance, and learn some survival techniques, too."

We finish our breakfast and get dressed, Hestia has set out the outfit that all the tributes are required to wear to training, a black jumpsuit with our individual district numbers on the front.

We take the elevator down to the lobby and walk to the Training Center. The inside of the Training Center is open like an airplane hangar, there are several stations of survival training and several stations of weapons training.

The Career Tributes are already here, throwing spears and knives at dummies with amazing accuracy, hitting the dummy in the chest every time. The boy from District 2 is gigantic, he must be at least 250 pounds of pure muscle with fifteen years of training, he swings a sword hacking the arms and heads off of girl from District 1 is also a threat. She has blonde hair with streaks of green and emeralds woven into her hair. She can shoot a bow and arrow as good as Cleo and I, if not better, she's also a professional with a spear.

Neptune practices throwing and fighting with tridents,stabbing and slicing the dummy to pieces. Sophie practices swinging axes, she's just as good if not better than her mother is trying to rub two rocks together to start a fire.

"You gotta hit it at an angle," I say walking up behind her. I pick up two rocks and strike them together, the spark ignites the pile of pine needles in front of Nike.

"Whoa!" Nike says.

I blow out the fire and hand Nike the rocks.

"Now, you try." Cleo says

After a couple attempts, she gets the fire started.

"Don't use pine needles they won't last long enough to keep you warm." Cleo explains.

"Well you two seem to know a lot about making a fire, would you like to take the fire-building test?" the instructor asks.

"Yeah, why not?" answers Cleo.

We breeze through the test, passing with flying colors.

Next, Cleo and I go over to the Hand-to-Hand Combat area. The instructors teach us different types of fighting methods. We practice punches and kicks on punching bags and then with the instructors.  
By the time we are finished, Avoxes have brought out lunch. Neptune, Nike, and Sophie call Cleo and I over to them.

We sit down at their table, and two Avoxes bring us food.

"We were just talking about forming an alliance." Sophie says

"We rebel kids have to stick together," Nike says. " The Capitol is probably out to get us."

"We're in," Cleo and I say in unison

"That was weird, you guys don't do that all the time do you?"

"No." Cleo and I say in unison again.

"Are you for sure?" says Neptune.

"One-hundred percent." I say.

We eat in silence for a while until, Sophie pipes up.

"I loved your outfits for the Tribute Parade."

"Yeah, Armani and Hestia did a great job." Cleo says.

They talk while Nike, Neptune, and I eat in silence.

After Lunch, I go with Neptune to the rope tying station, he shows me how to make nets, and I show him how to make rope traps. We pass the test with ease.

Cleo and I practice throwing spears, neither one of us can hit the target. Over my shoulder I can hear the Careers laughing.

"Cleo, we have to go to the bow and arrow simulator, the Careers are looking at us like we're a meal."

"But Haymitch said."

"Cleo, I don't care."

Cleo and I walk over to the bow and arrow simulation. Cleo goes first, hitting every single target and moving tribute hologram with ease.

I step into the simulation, and a hologram appears with the words:

**PROGRAM DIFFICULTY LEVEL: EASY MEDIUM HARD**

I select Hard, and pick up a bow and quiver. Three targets appear, I put an arrow in the center of all three, a hologram of a man holding a spear appears, and I put an arrow in it's chest, two archers appear on a ledge, they fire arrows at me, and I dive out of the way, then shoot them. A man holding an axe appears behind me, I spin around and fire an arrow at him, ending the simulation.

I step out of the simulation to see all the other tributes standing there watching. Neptune, Cleo, Sophia, and Nike start clapping.

I look at the Careers.

"Impressed?" I ask and take a bow.

We go back to training. The rest of the day and the next day of Training fly by.

On the last day of training, the Gamemakers call us in for private sessions. District by District, first the boy then the girl tribute. Like always, District 12 is slated to go last.

We wait quietly while all the other tributes perform for the Gamemakers.

Finally, a woman comes and announces my name. "Now's your chance to show them everything." Cleo says. "Make them remember you!"

I walk into the individual training session, there are several stations: a wrestling station, a camouflage station and many different weapons.

The Gamemakers have been here all morning and have lost interest in me, their interest is in the lunch that has just been brought out.

"Finnick Mellark. District 12!" I annouce.

The Gamemakers turn to look at me, I pick up the bow, load an arrow, and fire it at the human shaped target on the wall. The arrow misses completely!

The Gamemakers laugh and go back to their food. I put another arrow in the bow, and fire it. This one hits the target right in the heart. None of the Gamemakers turn to look.

I angrily walk over to the wrestling station and grab a dummy. I tie a noose around it's neck like Neptune showed me. I paint the words President Snow on the dummy.

President Snow was the President of Panem during the second Dark Days, responsible for the death of my aunt Prim, Hestia's parents, and torturing my father to the point of insanity. Needless to say I've got a lot of hatred for the man people of the Capitol recognize as a martyr and a saint.

I hang the dummy up on the wall and shoot three arrows at it's chest and eyes. I then send my sixth and final arrow at the electric field, protecting the Gamemakers. Sparks fly from where my arrow hits. The Gamemakers all turn to look now.

"Thank you for your consideration!" I bow and start walking out. I slam the bow back in the rack and walk out. As I walk past Cleo, I make no attempt to hide my anger.

"What happened in there?" she asks.

"I'll tell you later." I say.

I take the elevator up to our floor and head straight to my room. I change out of the black jumpsuit they gave us for training and into a blue t-shirt and black pants. I lie down on the bed, still fuming with anger.

I lay there for a while, Cleo walks in.

"Hey, Hawthorne."

"What happened?"

"They weren't even paying attention. So I gave them a reason to."

"What did you do?"

"I uh- hung a dummy by a noose and painted President Snow on it, then shot arrows at its chest and eyes."

"You didn't!"

"Yeah, I kinda did. How'd your session go?"

"It wasn't as exciting as yours. I just shot some targets, tied some traps. The Gamemakers were watching me the whole time, probably because you scared them."

"Maybe they just thought you were good, give yourself a little credit." I smile

"Finnick, Cleo." Hestia knocks on the door, "It's time for dinner."

At the dining room table Rainy and Haymitch are debating over turns her attention to me when I walk in, scowling at me.

"What?" I sit down at the table.

"I think you know." She's obviously heard of my actions at the Individual Sessions, but I evade giving her an answer.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What happened at the Individual Training Session today?" Haymitch asks.

"I- um. I hung a dummy and painted President Snow's name on it, and then uh shot arrows at it."

The room lets out a collective gasp.

"Do you even realize the repercussions this might have?" Rainy asks. "Of course you don't, so I'll tell you. The Gamemakers, who already have it out for you, are going to make your life even worse."

Her words hit me like a brick, she's probably right I probably doomed Cleo and the rest of our alliance even more.

Afterwards we go into the living room to watch the training scores.

"Let's just hope your score isn't too low, Fin. A high training score is a big part of gaining Sponsors." Haymitch says.

"Tributes are given a score based on their performance in group and individual training. Tributes are scored on a scale of 1 to 12, 1 being the lowest score, and 12 being the highest." Caesar Flickerman explains.

He then begins reading off the scores: the girl from District 1 scores a 9, the boy from 2 gets an 11, Neptune gets a 9, Sophia gets an 8, and Nike gets a 9.

Finally they get to District 12, the room goes silent.

"Cleo Hawthorne 10." Caesar says. "Finnick Mellark, 11"

Our teams burst into applause.

"Wow, you two must've really impressed them."

"I guess my show wasn't that bad, huh Rainy?" I ask.

She glares at me.

"You two need to get to bed."

"Yes, Interviews are tomorrow."

"All right, good night everyone."

I fall asleep and in my dreams, I go back to the day Cleo and I got our matching scars.


	6. Chapter 5

We were 13 years old. It was a Saturday, so we were staying out later than usual, because the bakery was closed, Rain was coming down in buckets. I was checking the snares while Cleo looked for berries; I could barely hear myself think through the constant roll of thunder. I was pulling a rabbit out of a snare when I heard her scream.

"FINNICK! HELP ME!" Cleo yelled.

I dropped the rabbit, and grabbed my knife. I ran as fast as I could, following Cleo's screams.

I found her at our meeting place, pinned to the ground by a growling wolf. She had a huge scratch on her face. My instincts kicked in, I tackled the wolf knocking it off of Cleo, the wolf rolled on top of me into a bush. The wolf swiped at my face, its claw scraped across my face cutting my cheek open. I stabbed my knife into its side, but still it attacked. I looked over to see Cleo struggling to her feet. She picked up her bow, loads in an arrow and fired it. It hit the beast right in the eye, killing it. Cleo crumpled to ground. I pushed the wolf off of me, stood up, and rushed over to her.

"Cleo? Are you okay?"

No answer.

"Cleo?"

Still no answer. Cleo was laid on the ground unconscious. She was losing a lot of blood. Shd had a large scratch across her face, like my own. But, most of the blood was coming from a large scratch across her stomach. Something my mother taught me came to mind, I pulled off my sweatshirt and shirt. I pressed the shirt into Cleo's stomach, and put on the sweatshirt. I lifted Cleo's unconscious body off the ground, and carried her out of the woods.

"You're going to be okay, Cleo. You're going to be okay."

Luckily when we reached the fence electricity was off. I pushed Cleo's body through, and then step over. I took Cleo to the apothecary, Doctor Hollows.

"Oh my lord, what happened?" Dr. Hollows asked.

"It was a dog, a big dog." I lied.

He took Cleo and put her on a gurney, and wheeled her into a room.

A nurse came out, "Let's get something for that cheek." she said.

"Is she gonna be alright?"

"I hope so, Doctor Hollows is going to try his hardest."

'I just want her to be okay."

The nurse, Sarra, bandaged up my cheek.

"That'll take a couple days to heal, and you'll probably have a permanent scar there."

My mother burst into the room.

"What happened?"

"A dog, a big one. It came out of nowhere."

My mother stared at me, knowing that I lied.

"I'm going to go help Doctor Hollows."

"Thank you."

"What really happened?" my mother said as soon as the nurse left

I told her the story.

"My god, Finnick. Stay together next time." a tear fell down her face.

"I know Mom," I start to cry, "I hope she'll be okay. You can go home, I'm going to stay until I hear about Cleo."

"All right." she left and I went out into the waiting room.

I sat waiting for a couple hours, and Cleo's dad came out.

"She wants to see you."

"I'm sorry, Gale. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have left her."

"Are you kidding? You saved her life. Thank you so much Finn."

"Th-thanks Gale."

He left and I went into the room. Cleo sat in her bed, with an IV strapped to her arm.

"Hi Finnick." She said weakly.

"Hey, Cleo. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault." I sat down next to her on the bed.

"You can't be serious. You s-saved me."

"But, none of this would have happened if it weren't for me."

"We're both okay right?"

"I guess so."

"Then it's okay, that was very brave."

She leaned over a kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you so much, Finnick."


	7. Chapter 6

I wake up with a smile on my face. I go out to get breakfast. Haymitch sits at the table talking to Cleo and eating a plate of food.

"G'morning Finnick." he says with a mouthful of food.

"Good Morning Haymitch, How are you today?" I say as I walk over to fill my plate.

"Good."

"Cleo, how are you? Did you sleep well?"

"I'm good, You're pretty chipper this morning."

"I had a pretty good dream last night." I smile, feeling the scar on my face morph into half-a-heart.

"Well, that's good. So, Haymitch what's the plan for today?"

"Cleo, you're going to go with Rainy and she's going to prepare you for tonight, and Finnick I have the 'pleasure' of getting you ready for tonight." He puts air quotes around "pleasure"

Cleo lets out an audible groan.

"Your stylists will be here at 5:00."

Rainy appears from her room.

"Yay! Cleo we get to have a girl day today!"

Cleo rolls her eyes, turns to me and mouths "HELP ME"

"That sounds fun." I say with a laugh.

The girls leave and Haymitch and I sit down on the couch.

"All right, Finnick. It's my job to help you find an angle to take in the interviews that'll get you sponsors."

"Okay, sounds simple enough."

Haymitch proceeds to ask a series of about fifty questions, giving the next question immediately after I answer.

"Okay, I've figured it out." he says after the last question

"Good, I'm exhausted."

"You're going to be charming."

"Umm?"

"Just go up on that stage, and use your god-given charm, and try to get sponsors."

"Sounds easy enough."

We spend the rest of the morning watching replays of old Hunger Games. They show the highlights of Primrose's games. The highlight shows the last 20 minutes of her games. Rose and her boyfriend Cawlen, are running through the woods. The two of them and the girl from District 5 Megara, are the last 3 tributes. Rose and Cawlen reach the Cornucopia, and Megara jumps from the top of the Cornucopia jumps from the top of the horn and puts her spear right through Cawlen's heart. She stands and faces Rose with her knife in hand. Rose draws her knife.

"I killed your boyfriend, now it's your turn."

"I don't think so, BEEP" they censor Rose's last word out.

Megara charges Rose, Rose sidesteps and stabs her knife into the back of Megara' neck, causing her to fall forward, paralyzed from the damage to her spinal cord.

Rose finishes her off and runs over to Cawlen.

"She got me pretty good, didn't she Rose?"

"You could say that."

"It hurts so bad Rose."

"I know Cawlen."

"Don't forget me Rose, Promise you won't.'

"I promise." A tear falls down Rose's face.

"You've got to end it Rose. Make it all go away."

"I love you Cawlen."

"I love you too Rose."

She kisses him on the head before driving the knife into his temple. She falls to the ground in tears. Two cannons boom, and Apollo Flickerman's voice comes over the program.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Victor of the 95th Hunger Games, Primrose Mellark."

Rainy and Cleo emerge from Cleo's room.

"Boys, I believe it is lunch time." Rainy says.

Cleo sits next to me at the table.

"How was it? Did she teach you how to be prim and proper?"

"I hate that woman. But, Interviews should be exciting tonight."

"What's your strategy?"

"Can't tell you, you'll have to wait until tonight." Cleo smiles.

The afternoon flies by. Haymitch, Cleo and I watch old tapes of the Games, Haymitch gives up pointers as we watch.

At 4:45, Haymitch and Rainy take us down to the Remake Center. Our prep teams meet us at the elevator. Khione and Venus grab me by the hands and take me to my dressing room.

For the next hour and half, my prep team works on me. They begin by washing and shaving my face. They apply minimal makeup, a small amount of dark grey powder around my eyes and some other makeup I'm sure Rose would know the name of.

I'm sitting with Hestia in my dressing room, eating dinner. Dinner consists of rabbit stew, green beans,peaches and mashed potatoes.

"Big night, tonight." Hestia says looking up from her dinner. "It's your last chance to impress sponsors before the Games."

"Don't remind me." I say. "I'm already terrible at talking in front of crowds."

"You're a great talker." she says

"Yeah, to you. You're a lot easier to talk to than the entire nation of Panem."

"Then, do that." Hestia says. "Forget that they are there, pretend you're talking to me."

"I can do that. Thanks Hestia."

"Now let's get you dressed."

Hestia and my prep team help me into my suit, and lead me to a mirror. The person in the mirror looking back at me, looks nothing like Finnick Mellark. The person looking back at me, looks more handsome than I can ever remember looking.

My team has dressed me in a spectacular suit. The suit looks similar to my outfit from the chariot ride. It's a black suit that glows like embers when the light hits it, I look handsome.

"Now, go charm the Capitol's socks off."

"Thank you, Hestia."

Cleo waits outside the door, seeing her makes my jaw drop. She looks gorgeous on an indescribable level, She's dressed in a beautiful black dress with glowing embers of it's own. She also has the dark-grey powder around her eyes, and has grey lipstick that accents her face beautifully.

"Pick up your jaw, Finn." She half-smiles.

"Sorry, Cleo, Y-you just look gorgeous, and beautiful, and lovely, and stunning."

"Finnick, shut up." she kisses me on the cheek.

"You look pretty stunning, also."

The two of us walk from the Remake Center back to the Training Center where Haymitch and Rainy wait for us. The four of us take the elevator to the ground floor where the stage is set up for the Interviews. As we ride in the elevator, Rainy gives us tips about manners and enunciation. The woman can be annoying, but I accept her help and compliments.

When the elevator doors open, the other tributes are being lined up for the interviews. We are lined up in order of Districts, 1 through 12 with the girls preceding the boys, so I'm set to go last. I want so badly to go first and get it over with, instead of listening to how funny, determined, fierce, or charming everyone else is.

Before we parade onto the stage, Haymitch gives some last advice "You two are still a happy pair, act like it."

As I step onto the stage my heart drops into my stomach. I don't know how many people I was expecting to be watching from the City Circle, but the number of people is about 5 times more than I could've expected. The seating has been arranged so prestigious guests, such as the trainers and stylists, sit in the front row. The cameras turn to the stylists as we parade on the stage, admiring their handiwork. Behind the stylists is where the people of the Capitol stand to watch, they fill the City Circle completely. Buildings are set up around the Circle for television crews, every television in Panem will be watching tonight. It's mandatory for people of all Districts.

Apollo Flickerman, the son of Caesar Flickerman the man who was the Master of Ceremonies and host of the Interviews for Haymitch and my parent's Hunger Games and took over after his death ten years ago, appears on stage. The man is the same age as my parents, but due to the Capitol's 'enhancements' doesn't look a day over thirty. He changes his hair, lip and eye shadow color every year, just like his father used to. This year it's a sunset orange, my father's favorite color, It looks much better than they sickish green he had last year. The plastic surgery done on his face has morphed his mouth into an eternal smile. But, he's a genuine man, who tries to help the tributes as much as he can.

The tributes all take their seat toward the back of the stage, and the girl from District 1 wastes no time before heading up to speak with Caesar.

She's dressed in a tight gold dress that hugs her curves, it's obvious that her mentor had no trouble finding an angle for her. With her long flowing blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and tall, slender body, she's sexy all the way.

After three minutes, the buzzer goes off and the interview ends. Then the boy from District 1 goes, his angle is being funny, and making god-awful jokes to try and make the people of the Capitol laugh.

The boy from 2 is ruthless, vowing to kill whoever stands in the way of his victory. Neptune talks about how determined he is to win for his mother. Sophie plays up the angle of sly, and cunning. Nike also plays up the sexy angle. I hold Cleo's hand throughout the interview.

Finally, it comes to Cleo's turn. She stands up, and takes her seat across from Apollo.

"Miss Cleo Hawthorne, You look very beautiful this evening." he says.

"Thank you, Mr. Flickerman."

"Call me Apollo dear, I don't mind." He says with a toothy grin.

"Sorry."

"So, Cleo, What do you like most about the Capitol so far?"

Cleo waits a couple seconds before answering.

"The scenery, definitely."

"What about it?"

"All the colors, everything is just so beautiful here, District 12 is pretty grey."

The audience laughs.

"Cleo, a pretty girl like you, surely you have a boyfriend back home?"

"Not really." She shakes her head.

"Come on, a beautiful girl like you, there's gotta be somebody, What's his name?"

"Well, Apollo there is this one guy, I've had a crush on him since I was little. But, I've just never been able to tell him."

The audience awws in sympathy.

"Why ever not?"

"I don't know, maybe I'm just scared. Scared that he doesn't feel the same way."

"Well, Miss Hawthorne, I'll tell you what, you win this thing and go home, and he won't able to turn you down."

"Umm, that won't really work for me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean winning won't really help me."

"Why not?"

Cleo's face turns red, and she stammers, "B-because, he came here with me."


	8. Chapter 7

All the blood flushes from my face, and my jaw drops. She's talking about me. All the time I spent fawning over her, wondering if she felt the same way about me as I did about her, and she just admitted to it on national television. The cameras are all trained on my face. I try to cover my emotions.

"Well, I'm sorry Cleo." Apollo says. "Lucky for us, he gets to come up and make a response."

The buzzer goes off, signifying the end of Cleo's interview, she shakes hands with Apollo and walks back to her seat.

"Now, let's get Finnick up here, and listen to his response. Would you like that?"

The crowd roars.

I takes a second for me to get my bearings and stand up.

I walk over to the chair and shake hands with Apollo before sitting down.

"Finnick Mellark, the nation is waiting to hear your response to the statement that Miss Hawthorne just made."

My tongue is like sandpaper, I scan the crowd, looking for Hestia's face, and imagine the words coming from her mouth. "What is your response to what Cleo just said?"

My struggling has caused some of the audience to laugh.

"Honestly Apollo, I'm shocked."

As I start to speak, it gets easier.

"I've always felt the same way. Cleo's been my best friend since we were toddlers, and I decided a long time ago that I was in love with her. I've always been afraid to tell her, and now we're both here, and one or both of us could die."

A collective aww comes from the audience.

"It's bad luck." Apollo says.

"It is, it really is."

"But, there is that rule that two tributes from the same district can both be winners."

"Yeah. There is. We can protect each other, stick together." I turn and smile at Cleo.

"Now, let's talk about that Reaping, what was going through your head when you saw that arrow flying through the air?"

"I don't really remember Apollo, I just knew that I had to protect Cleo, you know?"

"That was very brave of you, Finnick."

"I thought it was the sweetest thing ever!" someone shouts from the crowd

"Thank you." I say, with a smile.

"Okay, we have time for one last question." Apollo says, then asks. "What's it like, coming from a family of Victors?"

"I've got some pretty big shoes to fill, don't I?" I answer with a smile.

"Indeed."

"But, I'm determined to win, for Cleo and for my family."

The crowd roars again. I shake hands with Apollo again, and return to my seat.

The anthem of Panem starts and all the tributes stand. Cleo grabs my hand, and we hold hands for the duration of the anthem. All the cameras are trained on us.

The anthem ends and we head back to the elevators, Nike and I step into an elevator with Romulus, the boy from District 2, and Neptune.

"That was pretty cute out there, loverboy." Romulus sneers.

"Go to hell, Romulus."

The elevator bell rings for Romulus' floor.

"See you tomorrow, Mellark, Odair." he smiles slyly.

"Hate that guy." I say.

"You'll get your shot at him tomorrow."

"You're right Neptune, I'll see you out there."

The elevator reaches the penthouse, Haymitch, Rainy and Cleo, wait for me outside the elevator.

"Finnick that was awesome!" Haymitch says, "You're sure to get sponsors now!"

"You two had me in tears!" Rainy wipes a tear from her eye.

Cleo hugs me tightly.

"Finn, why didn't you say anything?" she says, pulling away and looking me in the eye.

"Why didn't you?" I smile.

She kisses me on the cheek.

"All right, save it for the cameras." Haymitch says "We have a lot to discuss."

We follow Haymitch into the living room, we sit on the couch and Haymitch stands.

"Okay, I have no idea what the arena is going to be so I don't know where you're going to start. But, you need to find Neptune, Sophie, and Nike, and then find water, Water is your new best friend..There's only 5 Careers this year, but they're the children of the toughest trained killers Panem's ever seen, stay away from them. I'll try to help you as well as I can, but you'll need to figure it out for yourselves, keep you know being in love with each other and crap. Any questions?"

"Do you want us to go to the Cornucopia?"

"You can, just make sure to protect each other. Now, get to bed, you're gonna want some sleep."

"Good Night Haymitch."

"Good Night, you two."

I go into my room, change into pajamas, and lay down on my bed. I lay awake sleeplessly for about half an hour before someone knocks on the door.

"Finn, it's me."

"Who's me?"

"Cleo, idiot, open the door."

"I don't know if I like your attitude."

"Finnick Rye Mellark, open the door!" Cleo yell/whispers

"Cleo Madge Hawthorne, give me a second."

I get out of bed and open the door.

"Sometimes I wish I hated you, Finnick."

"You couldn't if you tried."

"I'm sure if I tried pretty hard, I could."

I pull Cleo into me. "Really?"

Cleo smiles softly and wraps her arms around me. She presses her lips against mine. The kiss starts out soft and then it starts to linger. Then we're kissing deeply holding each other close. It's perfect, everything I ever imagined it would be, my emotions are like fireworks,. After a while Cleo pulls away, and says.

"Okay, maybe not." She smiles, and kisses me again. "That was perfect."

"You don't know how long I've wanted that."

"Probably as long as I have, if not longer." Cleo smiles.

Cleo and I walk over to my window, and look out. In the City Circle, the people of the Capitol are having a huge party.

"Tomorrow's the day Finnick, Tomorrow morning we'll be in the Games."

"I know, Cleo, are you worried?"

"Very."

"No matter what happens we have to protect each other."

"Of course." Cleo replies, then asks "What do you think the arena's going to be?"

"I don't know but I bet it will be pretty exciting."

"Is it weird that I'm excited to see?"

"Probably."

"Okay, Finn, I'm getting tired, is it okay if I sleep in here? My room's right next to Rainy's and she snores like a chainsaw."

"Sure."

Cleo crawls into the bed, I lay down next to her and wrap my arms around her.

"Why didn't you ever say anything Cleo?"

"I don't really know, Finnick, I guess was just afraid you didn't feel the same way."

"Well, I do. Of course I do."

"Finnick, you said out there that you've had a crush on me forever, when exactly did forever start?"

"Umm, it was the first time I ever saw you, the first day you came to our school,we were six, my mother pointed you out actually."

"She did?"

"Yeah, you were walking with your dad, you were wearing a little bow in your hair, and wearing a blue dress, and my mother saw you, and she said 'Finn, Do you see that little girl? I used to hunt with her daddy in the woods. We were best friends.'"

"She didn't say that, you're making that up."

"No, true story, then I said to her, 'She's really beautiful Mommy, do you think maybe we could be best friends, too?' and my mother replied, 'Of course you can Finnick.'"

Then later that day, I was eating lunch all by myself, and you sat down right next to me, and I'll never forget what you said,

"Hi Finnick Mellark, I'm Cleo Hawthorne, and we're going to be best friends forever, is that okay?" Cleo says with a smile. "And then you said. "Hi, Cleo Hawthorne, You're really pretty.' then you smacked yourself on the head and said 'I was supposed to tell you that.'"

"It was supposed to be a secret. I just said the first that came to mind."

"That was a really cute story. How come you never told me that story?"

"I was embarrassed. I'm still pretty embarrassed."

"I can tell, your cheeks are bright red." Cleo says with a yawn. "I'm falling asleep."

"That's okay. Go to bed."

"Good Night Finn." Cleo kisses me on the cheek.

"Good Night Cleo."

Cleo lies down and falls asleep, and I follow.


	9. Chapter 8

In my dreams I'm back at the day Cleo and I got attacked by the wolf. I check the traps, and I hear Cleo screaming for help. I drop the rabbit from the trap and take off back to where I left Cleo, but something's wrong.

Cleo starts to scream louder. "FINNICK! HELP ME!"

Then another voice screams in pain.

"Finnick, Where are you?"

"Mom? Rose?"

Then another voice yells in pain.

"FINNICK!"

"Dad, Hanna? Where are you?"

Suddenly a Peacekeeper tackles me.

"What are you doing?"

The Peacekeeper pulls off their mask, revealing the face of President Snow.

"Game Over, Mr. Mellark."

I jolt awake, causing Cleo to rise.

"Finnick, are you okay?"

I take a deep breath.

"Yeah, I'm okay, I just dreamt that I lost you, I'm okay now that I know you're here."

"Aww, Finnick." Cleo smiles,and kisses me on the cheek. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

I press the button on my watch, it flips open revealing the pictures of my family. The Willow Song plays, lulling me back to sleep. This time I sleep dreamlessly.

I wake up a few hours later to the sound of Hestia's voice.

"Finnick, Cleo. You've gotta get up. The hovercraft leaves in half an hour."

Cleo and I get out of bed, Hestia hands us both some clothes to wear, we put them on and Hestia and Armani lead us to the roof of the Remake Center, where a hovercraft waits for us, we walk up the stairs, and are greeted by a man in a white coat holding a syringe.

"Arm." he says.

"What?"

"Give me your arm, Mellark. I have to inject your tracker." he says smugly.

I hold my arm out, he injects the tracker into my arm. The tracker will track my location throughout the Games, they want to have eyes on me at all times.

A female Avox with blue hair leads me to the place where there is a small breakfast set out for us. I eat as much as I can, but the food has no effect on me. My nerves are through the roof, my stomach is already rejecting the food. I've lost Cleo and Armani, they must have gone to a different part of the hovercraft. The blue haired Avox girl leads me to the room where the rest of the male tributes sit with

I sit down next to the window and the tribute from District 5, he doesn't say anything which is okay with me, he taps his foot on the ground, and it makes a pinging sound like metal hitting metal, it's only then that I realize that he's got a metal prosthetic on that foot. I frown at the bad luck of the boy, he's sure to die in the initial bloodbath at the Cornucopia, and turn back to the window. I lose myself in the view from above the city.

The ride only takes twenty minutes before the view outside the window turns black meaning we're close to the arena. The hovercraft lands, and Hestia and I follow an Avox to the Launch Room, what the Capitol calls the place where we prepare for the Games for the final time. In the Districts, we call it the Stockyard, where livestock goes before the slaughter.

Hestia leads me to a table where some clothes are set out for me, a pair of olive green pants, a black t-shirt, a black nylon hooded nylon jacket with orange stripes down the sleeves, and a pair of nylon shoes with rubber soles, perfect for running. The outfit is plenty warm, but not warm enough for the arena to be in a tundra, but the clothes are too warm for it to be a desert.

"Two minutes to launch." says an automated voice.

Hestia pulls me into a hug.

"Good luck Finnick."

"Thank you Hestia."

"Here, you forgot something." Hestia hands me my watch. I'd left on the bed this morning she must've grabbed it.

"Thanks."

"Remember who you're fighting for."

The man in the white coat from the hovercraft comes in, and grabs my arm.

"What are you doing?"

He stabs a needle into my vein. The liquid stings as it runs through my veins.

"The poison."

"Umm, thank you?" I reply

The man scoffs angrily and leaves the room.

"Thirty seconds to launch."

"Finnick, they don't allow me to bet, but if I could, I would definitely bet on you."

A lump forms in my throat, I try to thank her but no words come out.

"Come on, lets get you in the tube."

I step into the glass launch tube. It closes before Hestia gets the chance to give any final encouragement, so instead she gives the three fingered salute from District 12. I do the same salute back to her.

The launch pad starts to move. I look at my reflection in the tube's glass, and say to myself. "I am Finnick Mellark, son of two victors of the Hunger Games, and brother of a third. It is my turn, I will be the Victor of the 100th Hunger Games."

I spend 15 seconds in the tube as it rises, and then the plate pushes me up out of the tube and into the open air, the sunlight blinds me for a few seconds. Then I realize where we are, we're in the City Circle.

'No, It can't be, it's just a replica."

Then I hear the voice of the announcer of the Hunger Games, Gracius Hilton.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Let the 100th Annual Hunger Games begin."

* * *

Thank you to everyone who's been keeping up with the story. The Games are about to begin. Be sure to leave reviews and feedback!


	10. Chapter 9

Sixty seconds. We have to stand on the Launch Pad for sixty seconds, or we will be blown to smithereens. I look around at the other 24 tributes searching for the rest of my alliance. Nike stands on her platform six tributes away, Neptune is two people away from me on the left.

He motions toward the Cornucopia, and mouths the words,

"You going?"

I nod in approval, and then mouth "You protect me, I'll protect you?"

He nods.

I can't see Cleo or Sophie they must be on the other side of the Cornucopia. I do a quick examination of my surroundings. We're in a replica of the City Circle in the Capitol, 12 streets fan out from the Circle.

15, 14, 13

I see the girl from District 9 who is standing the platform to the right of me start wobble, obviously woozy from the poison in her blood. She starts to move forward, and then she falls on her face and flips over off of her Launch Pad and onto the ground.

BOOOM!

The mines go off and the girl explodes in a mist of blood. Her blood sprays all over the right side of my body. My ears start to ring, and my head swims.

10, 9, 8

I try to steady myself before the gong goes off. I look towards the Cornucopia, a golden bow and arrow sits on top of a sleeping bag, fifty feet away from my platform, It's mine, I mean the Gamemakers must've meant for me to get it.

3, 2, 1.

The gong goes off but it takes a few seconds for it to register in my mind. I take off towards the bow. But it's too late, the girl from District 5 who was standing next to Nike picks it up, loads an arrow and points it right at me, then she falls forward dead, with an axe firmly planted in the back of her head.

"Grab it and help us Finnick!" Sophia yells from inside the Cornucopia.

I run over to the girls body and pick the bow out of her hands, and take the sleeping bag and quiver, dislodge the axe from her skull and start running towards the Cornucopia.

In the Cornucopia, Nike kills the idiot from District 9 who ran to the horn. Cleo has pulled herself up to the top of the Cornucopia and is picking off tributes with a silver bow. Neptune stabs the girl from District 6 with a trident he pulled from the Cornucopia. Sophie swings an axe at the boy from District 10.

My ears have stopped ringing, and my hearing is back. It's a good thing too, because I hear a metallic clinking getting closer to me, I spin around swinging Sophie's axe, and it connects with the tributes chest. The tribute falls to the ground. I look down in horror. My first victim, the boy from District 5; the poor kid from the hovercraft with the metal prosthetic foot. I knew he was going to die in the bloodbath, I didn't know it would be by my hand.

The kid coughs up blood and dies.

I look up from the kid's body, and around the City Circle, the Careers are gone. My allies are all still in the Cornucopia.

"Wow, Finnick, you look like you took a shower in blood." Sophie says.

"I feel like it too."

"I'll take my axe back now."

"Thanks for the bow."

"Did the Careers get anything?" I ask Neptune.

"They all grabbed weapons, some food and left while we were fighting other Tributes."

"Is everyone okay? Did they leave you guys alone?"

"We're all alright." Cleo says from the top.

"Did anyone see which street they went down?"

"Yeah, it was that one, right behind where you were standing." Neptune says.

"So, what's the pla-"

Nike's question is interrupted by the sound of cannon fire signaling the death of a tribute.

I count 8, that means there are 16 of us left after the initial Bloodbath.

"What's the plan? Do we wanna follow the Careers and take them out first?" Nike asks.

"We need to figure out what we're going to do with these supplies." I say.

"We'll take everything we can carry, and then leave the rest."

"There's plenty of bags in here." Sophie says.

Cleo jumps down from on top of the horn and we all go into the Cornucopia, inside we find bandages, empty bottles for water, some fruit, some crackers, some rope, sleeping rolls for all five of us, some rope, and some medicine. We pack all our stuff into the orange backpacks. We all take some knives, there's two for each of us.

"Which street do we go down?" Nike asks.

"Whichever way the Careers didn't go." Sophie says.

"Well then let's go the opposite direction." I say.

We head down the street opposite of where the Careers went, as we walk down the street, the scenery begins to change. The skyscrapers turn to giant Redwood trees and the paved road turns to a gravel path.

"Whoa." Sophie says, stopping to look around.

"What?" Cleo asks.

"Something's off, I feel weird."

"What do you mean, the poison?"

"No, no. This place, it's freaking me out." Sophie says, "How the hell?"

"What?" Nike asks.

"It, It looks like home." Sophie says.


	11. Chapter 10

"Really, are you sure?" I ask.

"Do I look like I'm kidding, Mellark?" She holds up her axe menacingly

"No, Sorry Sophie."

"I'm just kidding Finnick, Calm down." Sophie smiles. "It's just weird, you know. Feels like I'm back home."

Neptune doubles over, holding his stomach. "Let's go see if we can't find any of those antidotes." he coughs.

"The woods, would be the best place to look, don't you think?" I suggest.

"Yeah, I'd say so." Sophie says.

"Then you lead the way, you know the woods better than any of us." Neptune says.

Sophie leads us into the woods, axes in hand. I follow behind, with my bow in hand, everyone else follows behind us. We walk until we reach a clearing in the trees.

"Surely, there's some animals in here we can hunt." Cleo says.

"We could use some of that rope to set up some traps, too." I offer.

"Okay, you guys go do that, and we'll look around and see if we can't find any antidotes in here." Nike says.

"We'll meet back here in an hour."

"Yell if something happens, or if you find something." I say.

"We'll try."

Cleo and I go right, deeper into the trees.

"Finn, you look like crap."

"It's been a long day."

"Are you alright?" Cleo turns around and kisses my clean cheek.

"Well, I'm better now." I say with a smile.

A small animal runs past, it's afraid of something.

"Something was chasing that."

Another animal runs across our path, too fast for me to pull my bow up.

"Cleo did you see that?"

"What was that?"

"I don't know, but I do know that we should follow. It was huge!"

"Definitely."

We walk quietly in the direction the animal ran. The animal's tracks are fairly visible in the mud, they belong to a bear of some kind.

"These are bear tracks Cleo."

"Food is food, Finnick. It was chasing that small animal, too."

We follow silently, until we break through a line of trees. The animal is nowhere to be found.

"Here would be as good a place as any to set traps, don't you think?"

"Go ahead, you're better at it than me anyways. I'll keep watch."

I throw Cleo the rope from my bag, and watch out for the beast.

Cleo ties some snares and noose traps from trees.

A loud huffing sound comes from the trees, followed by scratching on wood, and a growl. I look around with an arrow ready, and try to find the source of the noise.

"Cleo, come here and move very quietly!" I whisper-yell.

"Where is it?" Cleo asks, as she stands up and moves towards me.

"I don't know."

Suddenly the bear comes trucking out of the tree line right at me. I jump out of the way at the last second and I get a good look at the bear. It's bigger than any bear I've ever seen in the woods of District 12, when the bear stands on it's hind legs and opens its mouth to roar again I see that it has a set of razor sharp teeth, and its paws are the size of my face, its got claws longer than any bear I've ever seen, too. This is no normal bear.

It charges me again, out of the corner of my eye, I see Cleo load an arrow in her bow. She fires and hits the bear in the side, the bear turns it's charge towards her. Half a second before the bear can tackle Cleo, an axe hits the bears neck, killing it.

"God, I hate those things." Sophie says, stepping out from behind a tree.

"Thank you Sophie." Cleo says.

"It's okay, Cleo."

"How'd you know where to find us?" I ask

"I've seen these things before. The Capitol let them loose in the woods a few years back to keep kids from going out there. So, when I heard its roar, I came running."

"It's a good thing you did."

"Where are Neptune and Nike?" Cleo asks.

"They're trying to figure out how to get an antidote we found."

"Really?! Where?"

"Follow me." Sophie reaches down and pulls her axe out of the neck of bear. "Nasty."

Cleo and I follow Sophie to gigantic tree, where Neptune and Nike stand looking up to the top.

"Where is it?" Cleo asks.

"Way up there on a branch." Nike points with her sword.

Then, I see it, sitting up high on a tree branch, is a vial of the poison's antidote, but it's surrounded by a swarm of insects.

"Tracker jackers?" I ask.

"Yeah." Sophie says, "I think I could climb the tree but those tracker jackers would kill me."

"Wait. I have an idea." Neptune says.

"What's your plan?" Nike asks.

"Tracker Jackers feed on the sugar from fruit right?"

"Yeah, thats what the lady at the Training Center said." Nike says.

"So, if Finnick or Cleo could shoot an arrow through an apple and get it to stick to that tree right next to it, we could distract the Tracker Jackers, and Sophie could climb up."

"That's crazy, but it just might work."

"We have to be fast." Cleo says. "It's getting dark."

Neptune retrieves an apple from his bag, and throws it up in the air in a high arch. I shoot an arrow through it, and it sticks in the tree behind the branch. Sure enough, the tracker jackers swarm the apple.

"Hurry, Sophie." I say, turning around, but Sophie's already ascending the tree trunk, knife in hand.

The rest of us stand and watch as Sophie climbs up to the branch. I watch the tracker jackers swarming the apple, they're starting to lose interest.

"Sophie! Hurry!" Cleo yells.

"I'm almost there." Sophie pulls herself up to the branch where the antidote rests.

She moves along the branch quietly until she's close enough to reach the antidote. She reaches down to pick it up right as the tracker jackers start to attack.


	12. Chapter 11

"SOPHIE!" Neptune yells.

The swarm of tracker-jackers descends on Sophie, she clutches the antidote as she swats at the insects. She swings her knife at a group of them, and loses her balance. She starts to fall.

"Sophie!" Neptune yells as he runs forward to try and catch her.

Sophie hits a couple branches, slowing her fall. She lands in Neptune's arms, and they both fall to the ground.

"I still got the antidote." Sophie says before passing out.

The rest of us rush over to them.

"Finn, what do we do?" Neptune asks me.

I struggle to remember what my mother taught me when I was young.

"The barbs." Cleo says, "You have to pull the barbs out, Nike and I will go find the leaves."

The girls leave to find the leaves that'll cure the

Then, the parachute comes down, and lands right next to me. Wrapped up in the strings, is a vial half-filled with a green liquid, a white card is tied to the plunger.

"Mix with the antidote, it'll cure the poison and the stings - JM"

"Finnick, what is it?" Neptune asks, coughing.

"Hand me the antidote."

"Finn, she's dying. SHE NEEDS IT MORE THAN YOU."

"ODAIR, GIVE ME THE ANTIDOTE."

"NO! MELLARK, SHE"S DYING."

"DO YOU WANT TO CURE HER OR NOT?"

"Of course I do."

"Then give me the vial."

Neptune hands me the antidote. I mix the antidote with the green liquid, and shake it up, it turns a bluish color.

"Hold her mouth open."

Neptune opens Sophie's jaw, and I pour the liquid down her throat. Her body starts convulsing wildly.

"Finnick, what's happening?"

"Her body is reacting to the antidote, and the tracker jacker antivenom. Give her space. It'll pass."

Neptune and I move all the bags and weapons away from Sophie's convulsing body, after about a minute or two, she stops. Cleo and Nike appear with the leaves.

"Is she all right? Cleo asks.

"Yes, we need to get out of here though, before the tracker-jackers attack us."

Neptune and I carry Sophie's body, and we walk through the woods. We get back into the City Circle just as the National Seal of Panem appears in the sky, followed by the national anthem, and the list of dead tributes. It starts out with the boy from 3, the boy from 5 and then the girl, followed by the boy and girl from 6, the girl from 10, and the boy and girl from 11.

"There's 16 of us left." Neptune says.

"The 5 Careers, the 5 of us, the girl from 3, the girl from 4, the boy from 7, and both from 9." Nike lists.

"Where do we go now?"

Sophie's head snaps up.

"NO MOM! Leave Spruce alone!"

She passes back out again.

"She's hallucinating, we need to find a place to keep her safe until she wakes up, and that may be in a few hours, or a few days." I say, "It depends on how long it takes for the morphling and the antidote to take effect."

We walk past the Cornucopia, the Careers have emptied it.

"They could be around here anywhere." Nike says holding her spear tightly.

"We could set up camp in there for the night, we'll be safe, at least until the morning." Cleo offers.

"We could take turns keeping watch on top." I add. "Anyone opposed?"

Nike and Neptune shake their heads No.

We move all of our supplies into the horn. Nike offers to take first watch and climbs up on top of the horn, leaving the rest of us to sleep inside the horn. Cleo pulls a sleeping bag, Neptune lays next to Sophie, watching her intently.

"Finn, How did you know about how to treat Sophie?" Neptune says.

"My mom taught me the treatment. Is she doing okay?"

"Yeah, she's still mumbling stuff in her sleep, but the swelling is going down a little. I'll take care of her."

"You got pretty freaked out back there, Odair." Cleo says.

"I know. I'm sorry, Finn. It's just that Sophie's been my best friend ever since I was a little kid, and I know it's going to happen eventually. But, I don't want her to die."

"I know how you feel." I say, looking at Cleo.

Cleo kisses me on the nose.

"I'm going to sleep, wake me up when it's my shift." Neptune says. Neptune lays back in his bag, turned watching Sophie.

"He likes her doesn't he?" Cleo asks.

"I'm not asleep yet!" Neptune grumbles.

"I know, Odair."

"Is it obvious?"

"Definitely." Cleo and I say in unison.

"I thought I told you guys not to do that. It freaks me out."

"Go to sleep, Neptune."

Neptune falls asleep after a few minutes.

"Cleo, are you all right?"

"Aside from the fact that one of my best friends almost died today, and I almost got mauled by a bear, Yeah."

"That's good. Because, I feel like crap."

"I'm sorry, Finn. Maybe tomorrow will be better."

"I sure hope so."

Cleo pulls something out of my hair.

"There's a chunk of bone in your hair." Cleo laughs.

"That's not funny."

"It's a little funny."

"Cleo, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Finn."

"When was it? When did you know that you had a crush on me?"

"Ummm, it was a looong time ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'd had feelings about you for a long time, but when I woke up in that bed in the Apothecary, and the doctor told me that you'd saved my life. That was when I knew, and I had a permanent scar on my face to remember it."

"Aww, Cleo." I say kissing her.

"It's the truth." she smiles. "Now, I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when it's my turn to keep watch."

Cleo lays down and falls asleep quickly, and I follow fast behind.


	13. Chapter 12

Nike wakes me up a few hours later.

"Finn, I'm falling asleep up there. It's your turn."

"All right, Nike. Are you doing all right? You haven't said much."

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"That's good."

Nike pulls a sleeping bag out of her pack, and lays it on the ground next to Neptune and Sophie.

I climb up on top of the Cornucopia, and keep watch. From the top I can much further than I could from the ground. The arena is shaped like a big circle with a force-field dome over the top, fanning out from the City CIrcle are twelve streets, I can't see down very many of them, except for a few. One leads to a large factory, one leads to the woods that we just came from. I can see smoke rising high to the top of the arena.

"Idiot, The Careers will be there within minutes."

The sound of cannon a few minutes later confirms it.

After a few boring hours on top of the Cornucopia, I climb back down and wake up Neptune.

"Your turn." I say.

"Fine." He grumbles, getting out of his sleeping bag.

I pull myself back into the sleeping bag with Cleo, she snores quietly.

"Finnick, I love you." she mumbles in her sleep.

A smile spreads across my face as I fall asleep.

In my dreams, I'm in the woods part of the arena again, with the bear charging Cleo. I watch over and over again as the bear tackles Cleo and eats her alive as she's screaming for help. Then, the scene changes, I stand in the ashes of my home in District 12, Hanna and Rue lie on the ground hugging each other, dead, their bodies burnt terribly.

"It's all your fault Finn." My mother says from behind me. I turn around to see that she too has been burnt badly.

"You could have saved all of us, Finnick." My father says, appearing next to my mother with blood running down his face. "But, you failed."

"Your failure has brought the death of your whole family and everyone else who ever close to you." President Snow's voice says. "Now, it's your turn."

I awaken with a start. The rest of my group is already up, Nike is eating an apple and packing away her sleeping bag. Neptune is re-applying Sophie's leaves, and Cleo sits next to me, eating some berries.

"Finnick, are you okay?" Cleo says.

I take a deep breath, then answer. "Yes, Cleo. Just a bad dream is all."

"You seem to have a lot of those."

"Why didn't you wake me up to keep watch last night?" Cleo asks Neptune.

"You two looked pretty comfy in that sleeping bag." Neptune sneers, "Besides I wasn't up there for long."

"Then I'll take first shift tonight."

"Are we going somewhere else?"

"We can't stay here. It's not safe for Sophie." Neptune says.

"And we have no idea where the Careers are." Nike says.

"Not necessarily." I say. "Last night, there was a girl who had a fire started, and she got killed I assume by the Careers."

"Which way?"

I point towards where I saw the smoke coming from.

"Then we need to go this way." Neptune says pointing towards the road opposite of where the Careers are, three roads away from the woods we came out of last night,

We finish packing our bags and Nike and Neptune carry Sophie over their shoulder, and Cleo and I lead the way.

We walk down the road, and just as quickly as the other one did the scenery begins to change. The paved road turns into a sandy path, behind me I hear Neptune begin to walk faster, the buildings change from skyscrapers to wooden cottages and factories, I begin to hear the sound of rushing water.

"This is weird, this is really weird." Neptune says

Cleo keeps walking, ignoring Neptune's comment.

"What's weird, Odair?" I stop.

"It's District 4."

"Guys, come look!" Cleo yells.

We move quickly to catch up to Cleo. Cleo is stopped at the end of the road.

"What is it?" Nike asks.

"Look for yourself."

Neptune stands next to Nike, blocking my view.

"Yes!" Neptune yells, throwing his hands in the air.

"Whoa!" Nike says.

"What?" I ask, moving up next to Nike.

The sandy road ends on beach overlooking a sea of water extending into the early morning horizon.

"Come on Finn!" Cleo says, dropping her bow and taking off towards the water.

I chase after her towards the water, pulling off the nylon hoodie as I run. The water is cool, and it starts to clean the blood out of my clothing, leaving a red circle around me. I tread deeper into the water, and put my head under the water. I can feel the dried blood washing off my face.

I come back up for air, and see Cleo treading water further out in the water.

"Finnick! Come on!"

I swim out towards her, I get about 30 feet away when something crunches down on my foot, and pulls me beneath the water.


End file.
